"I still believe if there were, in fact, a means by which poor women would be able to access their constitutional right and it was able to be paid for without taxpayers' money, it should be done," Biden told reporters in Mount Pleasant.

But there are fewer options than prior years for low-income women to access abortions because of funding cuts and "attacks on Roe v. Wade," Biden said, which is why he now disapproves of the Hyde Amendment. Passed in 1976, the amendment bans the use of federal funds to pay for abortions in most cases. Biden previously supported the measure but recently reversed his stance.

"I made a commitment that I would not ever attempt to impose my religious views on anyone else in terms of relations to this most unique question in all of humanity: When does human life begin? When does that occur?" he said. "So, I'm not going to do that."

When asked about why taxpayers who feel morally that their money should not go towards funding abortions, Biden said that it was "impossible" to provide universal care without providing abortion services in a health care program.

"Look, it's a constitutional right, and it can't be denied," Biden said. "When there was an alternative, it made sense. But there's virtually no alternative."